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Distracted driving has to stop

March 5, 2018, 3:25 pm

“In one case, the shuttle bus called out a lady that was driving by, phone pressed up her to her ear, chatting away. The officer caught up to her with his police vehicle, followed her for awhile while she continued her call. Turned on the red and blue lights, still oblivious — she continued talking on the phone for several blocks until parking in a nearby mall, completely unaware of the police officer behind her,” said Mcleod. “She parked and the officer walked up to her window. She was still on the phone. It begs a question. If you can’t spot a police car behind you with it’s emergency lights on, what else are you missing?”

Cpl Ryan Mcleod, SO Traffic Division. RCMP gave out 200 tickets in a recent blitz looking for “no seatbelt” offenders and distracted driving. The shuttle bus referred to was used by officers so that passing cars would not know they were being observed.

Distracted Driving Blitz (South Okanagan)

As part of a dedicated distracted driving enforcement campaign, members of the RCMP South Okanagan Traffic Services unit (based out of Keremeos) were out in full force this weekend.

A mix of overt and covert enforcement techniques were utilized to catch drivers using cellphones while behind the wheel. A team of officers utilizing unmarked & marked police vehicles were deployed throughout the South Okanagan this weekend. In the Penticton area alone, over 200 enforcement actions were taken which included 94 seatbelt violations and 54 cellphone violations.

Using an electronic device while driving carries of fine of $368 along with additional penalties from ICBC (see their website for the new Driver Risk Premium program and associated penalty point chart).